Fairy Tale
by zhakeena
Summary: (AU; PG13 for tons of violence) The city of Midgar has plenty of stories to tell. Not your ordinary fairy tale parody... Second chapter: a re-telling of the Princess on the Pea. RufusTifa. Please read and review!
1. Prologue: The City of Midgar

Fairy Tale 

By: zhak!

Disclaimer: Nothing much belongs to me. I don't own Final Fantasy 7 nor its characters, places and other elements. I don't even own the computer where I'm typing this thing. What I own are the fingers used in typing the story. Not too hard to understand, I hope. ****

Prologue: The City 

_Once, in a land that doubtfully exists, there is a great city called Midgar. Technologies unknown to our world today already exist in that great city. The people in that city were divided into seven sectors; the richest people lived in the higher sectors and the poor, oppressed ones lived in the lower sectors. _

_People lived in constant hardship and suffering. The poor were miserable and struggling to survive "underneath the rotting pizza." The rich led themselves to believe that they were happy because they had the ability to get whatever they want, but they aren't any better off than the poor because they had to work their asses off day and night to feel secure enough… but they never were secure enough. Too much money isn't enough. And worse, they are forced to see poverty and violence everywhere—and try hard not to care. _

_The city that once was un-industrialized and unnamed… the city that is now industrialized and named "Midgar," the Big City, the richest country in Gaea… the city that will return to the Planet, and be renamed Ivalice. The city full of unhappy people. Cranky, unhappy people who smells the pollution everyday when they wake. People who drink a lot. People whose kids scam travelers 10 gil for a nap in a rat-infested room. People who pass by the Church with flowers in it everyday but never attend the masses. People like that. _

_A city of a million stories... all of them so special, all of them held so dear._

_You will be so amazed... so amazed._

------

Author's notes: Another crazy idea that I'll eventually abandon if I become uninspired sometime. Gawds.  
But this time, I have a goal: only three stories.  
I know there's something wrong with my language... Bah, let it be. I'm a try-hard postmodern writer anyway.  
Don't be compelled to review at this point, since it's really nothing so far. The fairy tales begin at the next chapter. XD


	2. Her Lovely Corpse

**Fairy Tale**

By: Zhak!

Most disclaimers are found at the first chapter. I also have a new disclaimer: I did not make up the fairy tales that I'm about to "make baboy" or parodize. The original "Rapunzel" story was originally written by Grimm, according to a source.  
Warnings: AU (doi!), slight OOC, incredible amounts of violence, slight nudity. Gah, that's a lot.

Chapter 1: 

_Once upon a time, in the City of Midgar… there lived a husband and a wife. _

"Good morning, Ifalna. How are you feeling today?"

A woman named Ifalna opens one weary eye as she lay on her bed. As her eyesight focuses, she sees his unkempt black hair, his eyes shining behind his eyeglasses, and his form as it wears a white laboratory coat. "Gast…" she murmurs, struggling to get up.

Her husband, Gast, stops her. "Ifalna, don't get up. You're still weak… the tests we performed on you did a good job on weakening you." He sighs as she lay back on her pillows again. "I knew it was a bad idea, letting you go to the laboratory with me."

She laughs. "No, don't worry about me. I was the one who volunteered; anyway… it's for the greater good, right? Besides, Dr. Hojo reassured me that I'll be fine in a week or so…"

He laughs. "You trust Dr. Hojo's diagnosis?"

"Well… ShinRa hired him. His diagnoses should be trusted if he's that good."

"He's a mad scientist."

"And so are you, dear," Ifalna smiles at him teasingly.

Gast smiles back. "Anyway… if you get hungry, that's your breakfast over there at the side table," he points to a tray with a plate of ham and eggs, a glass of juice, and a few slices of toast. He kisses her forehead. "Well… I'll see you later, at my lunch break?"

"Why bother? I'll be fine."

"No… you won't be able to stand up… maybe I'll ask for a Turk or somebody to watch over you…" he says, buttoning his shirt.

"Please, Gast… I don't like the Turks. Don't worry, by lunchtime, I'll be strong enough to stand up," she says, smiling brightly at him.

He hesitates. "Well… alright… I'll be seeing you later."

"Okay. Don't forget your ID. And…"

"Yeah," he goes near her again and pats her belly. "Bye, Aerith. I'll be seeing you later, too."

_Ifalna's promise to Gast that she'll be able to stand up by lunchtime isn't fulfilled… everytime she tries to sit up, her head spins and if she tries harder to be able to stand up, she blacks out and faints. Her husband Gast begins to worry after 7 days when she does not recover from her state. And after those seven days… she gets worse. She doesn't have the strength to eat anymore, and at times, she doesn't even have the strength to speak. Prof. Gast examines her health… finds out that because of the constant tests that Dr. Hojo performed on her, she is deteriorating inside out.  
Gast finds a way to deal with her disease, however… he just has to get a few medicines from Dr. Hojo's laboratory. Even if he knows that only Dr. Hojo is allowed to touch those precious medicines, he tries his luck at asking for permission.  
However, the deal that he and Dr. Hojo agrees upon was a very strange one…_

"Ah, yes… Gast, is it? I am sorry… _Professor_ Gast," says the doctor, drumming his fingers together. Shadows cover his face, making his eyes disappear behind his eyeglasses. "Yes… I believe that I can allow you in my special stock of chemicals… but…"

"Wait… let me ask you something first, _Professor_. Your wife—she is the special one, yes? The one who volunteered to be a subject of our tests regarding the Promised Land."

"Well… yes, Dr. Hojo. Ifalna is the Ancient."

"And I understand she is pregnant? And expecting a daughter?"

"Yes sir."

Hojo pauses for a few moments as if he is judging his decision very carefully… a matter of life and death? Will it mean... his life? The other doctor swallows hard. He knows that Dr. Hojo is known for making cadavers out of his colleagues. Gast, standing there in front of him in his office, is suddenly very aware of his knees shaking. Finally, he hears the doctor speak.

"Yes… I believe that I can allow you in my special stock of chemicals," Hojo repeats, "if you agree to hand me your first child after she is born."

Gast freezes. His voice sounds weak when he said, "Pardon?"

Hojo smiles at him sinisterly. "You heard me correctly, _Professor_."

Gast frowns. "I'm sorry, sir… but I can't allow that."

The other doctor laughs. "Those medicines you want aren't found anywhere else in the Planet, _Professor_ Gast. They are very expensive, very dangerous, and needs tremendous skill in using. I am the only one who was allowed by the President to touch them. So, if you want to use them for your wife… you have to give me something in return."

"I am not giving my daughter for those medicines, Dr. Hojo," Gast replies sternly.

Hojo shrugs. "It's your loss. You don't give her the medicines she needs, her child will die first, and eventually, so will she. ShinRa Labs will have to cancel all of its experiments regarding the Promised Land… because without the specimen, we are not going anywhere. You will be alone and unemployed, and you will have to carry the burden of your guilt. Do you want that? Your wife will die, your child will die, and your promise of contributing your knowledge of science for 'the greater good' won't be fulfilled… Tsk, tsk. I suggest you think first, _Professor_."

"But it is your experiments that got her into this condition in the first place, Dr. Hojo!"

"So it will be all my fault if she dies? Remember, Professor, she is the one who volunteered. Dr. Lucrecia also warned her about such things happening, but she still went through with it…"

"You should have known that you were risking her life when you did those tests—"

"We all have to take risks,_ Professor_… for the greater good," Hojo sneers at him. "And now that you are given a chance to cure her… will you take it?"

_Gast goes home shaken, but he has the medicines in hand. Silently, he heals Ifalna, and in a matter of days, she turns back to her old self.  
__A few months later, a baby girl is born to them. But Ifalna has to trade her life for Aerith's during childbirth. She dies not knowing that her child is taken away from her…__Regretfully, Gast personally hands baby Aerith into Hojo's waiting arms.  
__Aerith wouldn't remember in the years that followed, but she cries the loudest when her own father had to give her away to the creepy-looking stranger…_

---

_In the same building, at a different time, a different story begins to unfold. The night sky twinkles with stars. The city sleeps. And a soldier named Cloud Strife suffers._

"Hey, Cloud."

"Yeah, Zack?"

"You never have time to relax, do you? You look stressed out."

"Well… I gotta work hard… if I wanna be a First-Class SOLDIER in General Sephiroth's army."

"Why do you wanna be a First-Class SOLDIER anyway? It's not such a big deal like they say…"

"… I have a reputation to live up to."

"Don't tell me—people back home, right? That's what they all say."

"Yeah."

"Hmm… you really need to relax, man. Maybe if you go out drinking sometime. We could unwind together, what do you say?"

"…."

"No, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"General Sephiroth doesn't allow us to go out late at night. Training starts early in the morning and ends at dinner time. We won't have the time to unwind."

"Well… you need it. They don't let uptight people into First Class."

"What do you think I should do about it, then?" Cloud snaps in annoyance, glaring at Zack, who peers at him from the top bunk.

Zack shrugs upside-down. "Maybe you could… sneak out? It's not so bad… you'll have a great time, plus you get to practice your stealth attacking, too. And judging from our training sessions… you need to work on that." He grins.

The blonde laughs sarcastically. "Zack… all floors need a key-card to get past… and I can't use the elevator, can I? Now, if I could jump out the window from the 57th floor, I could go drinking, like you said."

"So, get a key-card."

"Only ShinRa executives get key-cards."

"Sez who? Come over here. I'll show ya something." Cloud raises an eyebrow. He jumps up on Zack's bed as he gets something from under his pillow. The black-haired guy comes up with a small, flat, shiny thing—kind of like a credit card. "Et voila. Key card," Zack says proudly, holding it out to him.

Cloud takes it from Zack and examines it closely. It is gold with strange lines all over it, kind of like a larger SIM card. It is unmarked, save for a few numbers (042431) and a sequence of letters—AVALANCHE. "AVALANCHE? Where'd you get this, Zack?"

He shrugs again. "You know AVALANCHE is a rebel group… but they're not very good ones as of now. SOLDIER catches a few members frequently. I was one of the guys who dragged the poor guy into the interrogation chambers in Junon. That was one of his possessions… I pocketed it, but don't tell anyone!" he explains with a wink.

"So now you're letting me use this?"

"Well, sure. Try it out, because I haven't."

---

Cloud seriously thinks about using the key-card that Zack has given him. In a fit of insanity one night, he suddenly thinks, Why the hell not? I'm not any better as a low-ranking SOLDIER anyway, might as well get my ass fired.

While everybody else sleeps (including Zack), Cloud silently walks out of the room and out onto the hallway.

Deserted, the white halls feel cold and hostile. In his SOLDIER uniform, he tries his hardest not to make any stepping noises as he runs.

Other SOLDIERS on duty are awake, ever vigil and standing in their posts, making passing by impossible. Cloud considers crawling on the ceiling like a spider to avoid being seen, but he realizes that he can't get away with that, and so he tries to find alternate routes around the guards. Finding none that would lead him downstairs, he keeps wandering silently around the halls, eventually deciding to try finding paths upstairs. A few floors up, and he realizes that he's lost. The floors look slightly different than the ones downstairs. Nevertheless, he keeps going upstairs, instantly realizing that there are less guards upstairs.

The next thing he knows, he is already at the 67th floor.

Cloud adjusts his eyes in the dark of the hallway. It is completely deserted. No guards, and no other people for that matter. In fact, the only sign of life that is on that floor is light coming from one of the rooms…

Oddly calm, Cloud approaches the lighted room and inserts the key-card in the slot…

---

The room is obsessively clean. The silence that eternally hung in the atmosphere is barely interrupted by the constant beeping of the machinery… machinery that determines life in a body or lack thereof.

In the center of the room is a large, glass chamber. A woman's naked body floats in liquid within, wires and hair dangling about her, making her look strangely imprisoned, like an unwanted child trapped in her mother's womb…

Cloud stares at her. He doesn't realize it for himself, but he is slowly approaching this woman…

Her hair is brown, wavy, unnaturally long it wraps around her covers her body her arms her legs her breasts one moment and uncovers in another the long wavy locks being played by the liquid bubbles sprouting like flowers he has seen before somewhere in Sector 5

He is close to her now. His blue eyes level with her closed ones outside the glass. He barely notices a scar on her abdomen. Her beautiful corpse mesmerizes him—he realizes this when he holds up one hand to touch the glass and hopes she wakes up…

Her eyes open.

His eyes widen as she starts to choke.

---

Dr. Hojo runs in the room as soon as the machinery started bleeping urgently.

The glass prison cracks. Water gushes out and spreads on the obsessively clean floor. The woman crashes on the floor, writhing, choking on the air in the laboratory. She tries to shriek, but a horrible croaking sound comes out of her throat instead.

The doctor smiles. His eyeglasses shine sinisterly. He takes off his white laboratory coat and puts it on the woman's shoulders. For a moment, he acts like a father to her. "There, there, there, my child. Try to breathe first."

The girl shakes as she stands up, wrapping the coat around her naked body. "Ah-ah-ah…" she croaks. Hojo puts an arm around her shoulder.

"What did I tell you? You'll die again if you try to learn how to talk and breathe at the same time. Just calm down for a while…"

The girl breathes in the air deeply. Her gasps eventually calm down. She stops shaking after a minute. "There… see, you are alive again, Aerith."

Her face is still in the same, shocked expression as when she got out of her prison. "Ae… rith?" she gasps out.

"Yes… you're remembering again. I'll give you a few minutes to remember all the bad things you did," Hojo sneers at her.

This naked, resurrected girl named Aerith does what her doctor says and tries to remember.

Broken glass cars motorcycles blue suits flowers Church Sectors 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 rebels bayonets knives swords flowers Church flowers Sector 5 flowers…

… blue eyes. She remembers blue eyes staring intensely at her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor dear. You tried to escape from ShinRa again, you bad girl. Father had to send those mean nasty SOLDIERs after you… one of those idiots stabbed you in the gut… remember now? You died in the Church… but luckily, Father knows how to revive dead things with a bit of scientific know-how. Too bad…" Hojo pats her wet hair. "You've been drifting from life and death in that glass chamber over there for a month now… your fingernails and hair won't stop growing."

Aerith stares at her nails and notices that they are, indeed, longer. Her voice returns to the way it is before she was imprisoned. "Don't refer to yourself as my father…" Her voice is low, reserved, uncharacteristically angry.

"And why not? I am the one who took care of you ever since you were born. I have every right to call you mine."

"You stole me from my parents."

Hojo smiles evilly. "Don't say that. I only did it for the greater good. You are special to the Planet. You are special to me," he leads her outside the room. "Now, I suggest you get dressed. You are indecently exposed." He leads her out of the room. Save for the echoes of their footsteps and the dropping of water, the world inside the room is silent again.

The soldier named Cloud stares at the woman he is mesmerized with, stares at her long hair trailing on the floor, leaving a path of water-drops. "Aerith," her name echoes in his brain.

---

"A life of solitary confinement again. I come out only when it is time for needles to be inserted in my body again, or for wires attached to my veins, or for a contraption to try to probe in my brain. Nothing ever works, nothing is ever accomplished. They shall never know where the Promised Land is."

She begins braiding her hair. She faces the mirror, a forlorn face stares back at her. Desperate. Hopeless.

"Dr. Hojo himself said it. More than 50 years… maybe he said 100 years of research is needed for them to find the Promised Land. ShinRa and his greed… my suffering is caused by his constant lust for money."

She realizes that her hair is too long. She turns around and looks around the room, finding a place where a pair of scissors may be kept.

"I will try to escape from this hell again… If only. I want to die… I would rather die than live in this city, like a princess trapped haplessly in the highest tower."

No scissors are in the room. Dr. Hojo has trapped her in a room with nothing but a bed, a table, a chair and a mirror. There is also a bathroom somewhere. There are no windows at all in the room.

"Dr. Hojo himself said it. No matter how many times I die, he can always revive me as long as ShinRa Labs and his precious scientific know-how exists."

"A princess trapped. Do I need a prince to escape from this hell?"

Despite herself, she smiles. Green eyes lose their luminosity.

After what seemed like an eternity of twisting handfuls of hair, she finishes. Her braids are so long, they trail behind her as she walks. She walks back and forth in her room, watching with mild amusement as her hair drags on the floor.

She wants to get out from her room and see her hair drag against the obsessively clean hallways of the ShinRa building. But her room needs a key from the outside and the inside to be opened.

---

"So, Cloud, have you used my present yet?"

"Ah… sure. Had a great time."

"Yeah. I noticed the baggy eyes. Well, at least you were alert this morning. What did you do last night, anyway?"

"Er… nowhere special."

"Hah! If I know, you went in the HoneyBee Inn or something. I hope not, though. That's disgusting."

---

_Cloud Strife desperately wants to see the girl named Aerith again. The image of her in her prison, inflorescences of bubbles floating from her nose, pale hands and limbs wrapped around in wires, a scarred abdomen, beautiful long hair floating about her… it will stick with him forever.  
__He decides that night—he will come for the girl again. He will try to find out everything about her. Everything.  
__For 7 nights, he sneaks up the 67th floor again. He comes at irregular times – first at 9.30 in the evening, then 10.32, then 10.22, then 11.23… He tries to find her in the laboratory, or search for the scientist with her.  
__7 nights of searching in vain. The trusted key-card glimmers faithfully each night.  
__At the eighth night, he goes up to the 67th floor and sees that the laboratory is lighted again. He fights the urge to run to it, however, and he waits in the shadows of the hallway for the scientist and his specimen to walk out of the room._

It was 12.43 in the morning. Shadows begin to block the bars of light from the laboratory. Cloud holds his breath.

"Child, we are making progress. You have cooperated marvelously in tonight's examinations," the man in a white coat says to the girl.

She is silent. She is wearing a red dress. Her arms are exposed. White bandages are taped at points where needles were formerly injected in.

They walk towards an unmarked door. The doctor inserts a key-card and it opens. He leads her inside.

"Now get some sleep. I and my team will be seeing you again tomorrow."

Cloud watches as the doctor steps out again. Dr. Hojo goes to the elevators and presses the down button. The soldier in the shadows waits for him to disappear behind the elevator doors before he moves.

Cloud holds his breath. A cold hand holds the key-card. Swallowing, he inserts the key card and turns the handle. The door clicks—the only sound in the barren hallway.

---

Aerith Gainsborough watches the shadows on the ceiling as she lay stiffly on her bed. She hums a song that is stuck to her memory for the moment. She does not look up when she hears the door click—she guesses that it is her 'father' Hojo, there to say such things to her as "I forgot to mention, child…" Details about the experiments of the next day. She closes her eyes sullenly.

Cloud Strife stares at the scenario he found in the room. The girl is lying on her bed. She stares at the ceiling, beautiful green eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. Her long, braided hair is sprawled on the covers of her bed and ends folded on the floor. A few moments of silence, then she breaks it with her voice—a soft, ethereal knife cutting through the dead air.

"You forgot to say something? I am listening," she says softly.

He finds himself at a loss for words. "I…" he stops. The different voice, the gentler tone made Aerith sit up in surprise from her bed. Her green eyes stare at him—surprised, shocked, or just curious? He didn't know.

The door closes behind him.

Aerith looks at him, head tilting. "How did you get here?"

Cloud shows her a key-card. "Not the professor's, but it works all the same," he says to her.

She narrows her eyes. Cloud freezes as she approaches him. Only the sounds of her light footsteps and her unnaturally long hair dragging on the floor are heard in the room. She raises her hand to touch his face softly. "I know you."

The SOLDIER nods.

"The man with blue eyes… you saw me in the laboratory that night, didn't you?"

"… I am sorry."

He swallows; his throat feels dry. "Do you… want anything from me?" she asks uneasily.

He shakes his head. "I'm not sure why I want to see you…" he begins. "But I'm here now. Aerith…" He feels her name on his mouth.

"Yes… I can see that." She smiles at him slowly. His blue eyes blink. He feels her hand against his cheek again.

"So… Cloud… your name is Cloud…"

_And so the soldier becomes the specimen's nightly visitor—or rather, early morning visitor. She asks for the things he is able to see outside, as her room in the tower has no windows and she says she misses the feel of the sun on her face. He says that there is nothing to be missed in Midgar—the privileged enough to see the sun from above the plate wants nothing to do with it. They spend their nights like that—lying on her bed, staring at the shadows of the ceiling, listening to each other's low voices sounding so husky when the clock is past midnight. When they talk, she touches his hand. He feels pleasure when her nails slightly graze his skin.  
__Nobody notices the visits. Hojo, as well as Cloud's superiors in the army, are blissfully unaware of their nightly talks. Before they notice it, 7 months pass them by._

"I want to escape someday, Cloud."

"So do I. This city… or rather, ShinRa is killing both of us."

He strokes her long hair—the long locks that he is so fascinated with. She embraces him and feels his fingers lightly stroke her scalp.

She suddenly laughs. "If my hair were long enough, and if I had a window, you could use it as a ladder to go down… then maybe you could find a way to take me with you, and we'll get away from this place… like in that fairy tale."

Cloud laughs with her. "Maybe. Maybe I have a plan."

He soon leaves the room, promising to go back the next night. And in the familiar halls, he stealthily makes his way back to his room… unaware, though, of a slight shining in the shadows…

Bars of light from the laboratory makes the Doctor's eyeglasses shine.

---

It wasn't in the next night that Cloud decides that it was time for him and Aerith to escape…

That night, he runs in the shadows of the familiar hallway of the 67th floor… but this time, he has a sword with him.

The halls are silent. There were no bars of light shining from within the laboratory. The experiments are done for the night. He inserts the key-card and twists the doorknob to Aerith's room.

But what was waiting for him there isn't what he hoped for. But in a sense, he knew this wasn't going to be easy…

Dr. Hojo glares at him in the darkness of the room. "SOLDIER…" he mumbles with detest under his breath. He growls and lunges at Cloud who didn't have the time to dodge. JENOVA cells had strengthened the man.

Cloud feels Hojo's fingers tighten around his neck. He starts to choke. "Can't… breathe…" He struggles. They end up stumbling all over the hallway before finally crashing into the dark laboratory.

"SOLDIER scum! You have no right to lay a hand on my precious experiment—" the Doctor growls wildly, not letting go of Cloud's neck.

Cloud wills himself to use his foot to kick Dr. Hojo away from him. He breaks free and quickly gets his large sword and makes a slash across the doctor's body.

Aerith opens her eyes. That afternoon, she is injected by Dr. Hojo and then falls asleep.

And now that her eyes are open… she finds wires attached all over her body and that she lies alone in an examination room, the cold metal bed freezing her back… What time is it?

She feels pain as she pulls out the wires from her skin. Spots of red are all over her arms, her legs, her head. "Ah… ah… ah…" she croaks again. Shaking, she stands up and practically crawls on the floor in an attempt to get out of the examination room in the 67th floor laboratory.

Blood stains the obsessively clean white floor of the examination room. Strands of unnaturally long brown hair are left.

Cloud breathes as he looks over the mess he made of Hojo. The scientist didn't stop attacking him. He didn't pass out until he was terribly mutilated.

He turns when he hears croaks from behind him. He sees her crawling desperately on the floor. He rushes to her. "Aerith!"

"Cloud," she finds her voice at last, "Let's go."

They used the elevator to go to the ground floor. They run past the shouting, panicking guards. Cloud successfully finds a motorbike. He tells Aerith to hang on tightly as he starts it up.

They zoom away from the ShinRa building. The tension hangs in the night air as SOLDIERs in their own motorbikes and vehicles chase them. "Cloud… don't stop driving. Don't," Aerith mumbles weakly.

The roads in Sector 1 at that time of the morning aren't very crowded. The chase goes on. SOLDIERs threw grenades at them in an attempt to stop them, but nothing slows Cloud down.

"I won't."

Only General Sephiroth catches up to them on his motorbike. "Strife! Stop!" he growls.

"Don't…"

"I won't, Aerith," Cloud repeats as he tries to go faster.

"No!" Sephiroth brandishes his Masamune. He swings it towards the runaways. They duck, but Aerith's long hair was cut. She doesn't blink.

"Damn!" Cloud screams before Sephiroth makes his second move—a clean stab through Aerith's back. The sword pierces through her and wounds Cloud's side. Aerith screams and chokes.

"Aerith!"

She clings to him tighter. "Don't stop, Cloud!"

The road ends. They do not slow down. They fly through the air as a grenade makes it to them and explodes.

It was like watching a display of fireworks in midair. The night sky was tainted orange by the fire. Aerith Gainsborough loses consciousness, but does not let go of the soldier. Cloud Strife receives shrapnel in the eye. He is blind when they both fall to their deaths from the highest to the lowest sector.

---

Dr. Hojo recovers. He forces SOLDIER to find Aerith Gainsborough's corpse. They find it with exactly the same wound as when she previously died.

Cloud Strife's body is nowhere to be found. The mutilated motorbike is removed from Sector 7 to make people forget that anything happened that fateful morning.

---

A man with unkempt hair, shining eyes behind eyeglasses and a white coat cleans his hands. He lives alone in a house in Kalm. He had heard all about his daughter and how many times she had been killed already.

But he tries hard not to think about her. He is busy with a new project of his own…

Prof. Gast examines the man in a glass chamber in his home. He has blonde hair and his wounded eyes are covered with cloth. He floats in liquid, pale hands and limbs wrapped in wires. Bubbles float from his nose, making one think of flowers everytime they rise.

-end-

Author's notes: I watched Three a few days ago. I also watched RE: Apocalypse a few weeks ago. I don't know. Must be a side effect or something.  
Verb Tenses are my worst enemy.

Coming up next: Princess on the Pea featuring Tifa Lockheart. It's not the story you once knew, I promise.


	3. The sweet smell of champagne

**Fairy Tale **

By: zhak

For disclaimers, see the previous chapters. The Princess on the Pea was originally written by Hans Christian Andersen. Also, clippings from the song "Here In My Room," performed by Incubus, appear in this chapter.  
Warnings: AU, slight OOC, violence, strong language, my favorite estranged pairing and the mention of alcohol. No nudity this time, pervies.

**Chapter 2: The sweet smell of champagne**

_Once upon a time in Midgar…stands the majestic ShinRa Tower. A certain President runs this electric power company, but with all the power and money he has, he might as well be called "His Majesty." He has a wife and a son. He wants to see his son get married before he dies, and so he searches the whole Planet for a 'true princess'—that is, a woman fit enough to be his son's bride._

_Meanwhile, a certain bartender exists in the 7th sector of Midgar. She lives a life of poverty and has the ShinRas to blame. Everyday, she glares at the majestic tower with scorn and loathing. She celebrates when a massive explosion takes place at the highest point of the building, and is aggravated when the Company regains its composure and continues running its machine of oppression._

_That is, until one day… she looks up to the ShinRa Tower and senses an immense loss of power. The Company still functions however. She thinks it may be just her imagination. _

"Tifa… read this, it's quite interesting," Vincent says as he reads one of the magazines in her 7th Heaven Bar. Tifa looks up to him curiously and sees the cover of the magazine. It is one of those tabloids that publish only the strange and the eccentric. The cover story is about scientists who may have the technology to bring the dead back to life—and how they hide that technology from the public. The girl frowns at him and sighs. "Vincent, should you really read such things?"

"I could read about the stock market or the gossip columns, but I'd rather not." He shows her a bloody photograph. It is a photo of the aftermath of the famed 70th floor explosion in full-blown Technicolor.

Tifa cringes. She doesn't like the sight of blood and ashes… too many bad memories. "So what is it about?"

Vincent turns the page and shows her the heading: _ShinRa Family Dies in Explosion. _

"Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous…" she mutters, getting back to wiping the counter with her trusted dish rag. "If the ShinRas are dead, then their company should have died along with them. Besides, they couldn't keep a secret like that from the public. They're the most influential family in the world."

Vincent continues to read the article, skipping useless technical words and gets the gist of the write-up. He shrugs. "They provide a rather convincing argument, but they forgot to explain how the ShinRa family manages their public appearances…"

"Vincent, stop reading that before you pollute your own brain," Tifa smirks.

Vincent smiles at her. "Would you prefer it if I read about the love lives of the members of _Prettier than Pink_?" He mentions a popular girl band to her.

"I'd rather you read nothing." She looks up the clock. It is 2.30 PM. The child that lives with her, Marlene, will be coming home from school soon. "Would you like a drink?" she asks.

"If you have champagne, I'd love it."

"Yes, I know you love the smell of champagne." Tifa opens the refrigerator and obtains a bottle. As she pours liquid into two glasses, thunder begins to rumble from a distance. A storm approaches them, loud, threatening, frightening.

_6.00 PM. Marlene does not come home. Tifa begins to panic. Vincent goes out and assures her that he will find the child. She does not want to be left alone. They agree to search Sector 7 together. When they find nothing, they split up and take the train to go to the upper sectors. _

_Tifa starts searching in the 3rd Sector, where the malls are found. She finds nothing. The rain does not stop falling. Her umbrella is ruined. She is soaked to the bone, but she does not stop searching for Marlene. She calls Vincent and he has not found her yet. _

_She goes up and does not stop. Her legs start to ache. She is cold. She clings to her hooded black jacket desperately as the winds grow stronger. _

_She is in Sector 1 at that moment. Her vision starts to blur. Vincent would not answer his phone. She stumbles at the gates of a very large mansion. Even though she just wants to ask for a child named Marlene, the welcome she receives is a strange one… _

"Excuse me… sir?" she asks the guard on duty. The guard looks at her up and down. Tifa can feel his eyes piercing through her, judging her. _Stop staring at them idiot I know I'm in the wrong Sector fuck you too _

"I just want to ask if you've seen this girl? This girl right here," she gets her camera phone and shows him an image of Marlene. He shakes his head. "Sorry, ma'am. No sign of kids here or anything in this kind of weather."

Tifa sighs. "I see. Thank you," she turns around and moves to leave when a shiny black car appears on the driveway. She barely hears the guard exchange words with the unseen passenger. Before she can get past the gates, though, the guard calls out to her. "Ma'am! Ma'am!" he runs to her and carries an umbrella.

The bartender in the black jacket feels a chill travel to her spine. She turns around when the umbrella reaches her. "I'm sorry… this may seem a bit unorthodox, but my boss wants to see you. If you could just go into the car and greet them…?"

Tifa frowns. "I don't think so." She turns to leave, but the guard grips her shoulder. "Oh, I think so, when you find out who my boss is," the guard grins at her.

She raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but I'm still trying to find somebody… maybe in another time…"

"Oh, but I insist," a voice speaks from behind them.

The guard instantly salutes. Tifa's eyes widen when she recognizes the voice. She bites her lower lip in worry.

President ShinRa is standing there, carrying his own umbrella. The rain causes spots of darker red on his red suit. "I understand you are searching for a little girl you've lost? We can help you."

Tifa is at a loss of words. President ShinRa holds out his hand courteously. Together they enter his limousine. The guard slams the door before the vehicle speeds off in the driveway.

She is embarrassed when she sits in the leather seats of the car. Her wet clothes make a squishy sound. Inside the limousine, too, is President ShinRa's beautiful wife. "Hello, dear," she waves a dainty hand at her.

"I…" she is not sure how to address the First Family. She is not even sure how she got in that position, facing them all of a sudden in the worst of occasions… but she's there.

The First Lady laughs. "Do not be intimidated by us, dear… or at least try not to be. We don't bite."

They arrive at the front steps of the house. Tifa is grateful for the roof that shields her from the rain. She gets out of the limousine and feels relief when she is out of it.

Before she could say another word, the First Lady calls a servant and commands her to bring Tifa a change of clothes. Then she is led to a luxurious guestroom and is asked to rest there for a while before she is called for dinner. She wants to ask how the influential couple will manage how to search for Marlene, but she does not get the chance.

In the guestroom, she gets her cell phone and tries to contact Vincent. But before she could find his name in the contact list, her cell phone beeps. _Low Battery. _Her phone dies just when Vincent's phone starts to ring.

The King and Queen of Midgar eat dinner with the bartender from the slums.

"Your name is Tifa Lockheart, my dear? Such a lovely name… fitting for somebody as beautiful as you." The President smiles at her almost proudly.

"Thank you, sir," she says weakly. Tifa can barely touch the food. She feels very awkward in their presence, as if everything they do is an attempt to upsize her and her fortunes.

The First Lady sips her water daintily before she spoke. "Tifa, dear, where do you live? And what do you do for a living?"

"Er… I live in Sector 7, Madame. I own a bar there… I'm the bartender." She blushes deep crimson.

The First Lady laughs. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, my dear. Bartending is a decent job."

Tifa wonders why they call her _'my dear'. _Why do they suddenly treat her like a daughter or something?

"So, Tifa, who is this little girl you are searching for? Is she your daughter?" the President asks.

"Oh, no! No, sir… she's the daughter of a good friend of mine," she moves the food around her plate to pretend that she's enjoying her meal.

"Oh! That's a relief!" The most influential couple in the world laugh at the same time.

Tifa smiles uneasily. "I'm sorry… we were wondering how you could have a daughter at such a young age…" the President says. He sips his champagne.

The First Lady nods. "And don't worry about your friend's daughter… Marlene Wallace is her name, correct? We've already sent some people to search for her and that other man, Vincent Valentine?"

"Yes, Madame. Thank you."

The old man sniffs. "Who is this Vincent Valentine? He sounds vaguely familiar…"

"Er… he's just a good friend of mine. He used to work for ShinRa."

The First Lady looks directly into Tifa's eyes. "Is this Vincent anybody special?" There is a hint of teasing in her voice.

Tifa bites her lower lip. "No, not really… He's just a close friend, nothing special."

She smiles. "Good."

A few moments of silence.

"I think it's time we tell you the real reason why we let you in our home, Miss Lockheart."

"Yes?" She looks up curiously.

The couple looks at each other first, then the First Lady proceeds. "I assume you know of our son, Rufus?"

She nods. "Yes… he's your only son, right?"

"Indeed. The heir to our company," the President says. "A fine young man, but…"

"He doesn't have a wife, a special lady friend, or anything…" The First Lady sighs.

Tifa looks at them fearfully. "So… are you asking me to—"

"Well… sort of. We're not asking you to marry him immediately, that's very silly," she laughs.

"Then… what are you proposing?"

The First Lady asks her as courteously as possible: spend 3 days in our mansion. Get to know our son, our little prince. If you two end up liking each other, it would be marvelous, simply marvelous. However, if you do not get along, then you are free to go.

Tifa pauses for a while. She is torn… but she realizes that for the moment she has no choice; the storm still rages outside and she can't get in touch with anyone outside Sector 1. She agrees. It is very hard to turn down the request of the First Lady, courteous woman that she is.

They let her stay in the guestroom. They say that Rufus will be coming home late at night and could she please wait for him. She is told to make herself at home and wishes her a good-night's sleep.

Tifa is convinced that the ShinRas must have gained their riches because of their eccentricity.

Tifa stares at the stormy sky and imagines stars littered across the night sky from behind the great thundering rain clouds. Incoherently, they twinkle, but they still bring hope in the lover's heart.

Tifa has learned some time ago that the stars lie.

Now she sits at her bed and waits for the King and Queen's so called "little prince" to come visit her. She feels a slight discomfort as she sits on the bed… she tries to feel the covers if there is anything irregular.

No. Nothing. She is imagining things once again, like the time when she thought that she is strong enough to live on her own in the great city of Midgar, when she felt the strange loss of power from the great tower that looms a few blocks away… and the time when she thought that she could make a certain man fall for her. She is tired of her runaway imagination. She tries lying on her bed and contents herself counting the shadows passing on the ceiling, but once she settles in, a low, humming sound—no, make that a slight splashing sound—creeps to her ear…

She eyes her cell phone from the other side of the room. A charger is plugged to it. She wishes she could contact Vincent again and see if he and Marlene are safe and sound under the roof of the 7Th Heaven bar…

Tok-tok-tok 

She sits up. "Come in, it's open," she calls out.

Rufus ShinRa opens the door. His gaze instantly lands on her. "Hello there," he greets her. He walks over to her and takes her hand. "Miss Lockheart, I presume?"

Tifa nods. She tries to swallow the lump in her throat. "Good evening… Vice President Rufus?" she says. She hopes that he does not notice the slight tremor in her voice.

"No need to be nervous," he says to her assuringly. "I hear you had a rough night."

"It's nothing, really…" she says, but trails off when Rufus interrupts her, "You look exhausted. Maybe you should rest now."

Tifa bites her lower lip. "I would, but… well…" she wants to tell him that she can't possibly sleep in that bed because of that strange phenomenon, but she hesitates because she will sound like a spoiled guest.

She is relieved when he seemed to have read her mind. "Oh… I see. It's the bed, is it?" She nods sheepishly.

"I don't know, but… there's something about it that…" she trails off again. "I can't sleep in that kind of bed."

He flips his hair. "Then I'll have to keep you company. You don't want to be awake all night all by your lonesome," he sits on a chair beside the bed. "Lie down," he says. Almost a command coming from him.

She looks at him strangely. She pauses and thinks about her options. If he does anything funny, she thinks to herself, she could always use her martial arts training against him. Then she could escape from the mansion and brag to her friends about what she did to the President's kid…

That is, if he tries anything funny. She lies down and waits for him to move.

"Now. Tell me anything about yourself. Anything at all."

"Anything?"

"Anything. It could be about your job, your family, your house, your favorite television program, your pet Chocobo, your ideal man, your fears, your dreams… anything. Entertain me." His icy-blue eyes, Tifa muses, look slightly familiar… The way they stare into her crimson ones, it is almost as if he was pinning her down, freezing her, commanding her not to go anywhere.

Tifa tries not to mind. She begins telling him about herself, starting from her name (Tifa Lockheart), her age (22), her job (a bartender), her weapon of choice (I'd rather use my fists in knocking out people) and where she comes from (I may live in Sector 7, but I'm a Nibelheim local)… then she pauses slightly, at a loss for words. Rufus urges her to keep talking, and she tells him the next things on her mind. She tells him about the things she does in her bar, like serving drinks to her customers and being forced to hurt those who want her for her body. She tells him about her friend Barret and his little kid Marlene, whom she's grown very attached to, like maybe a little sister or her own daughter. She tells him about her friend Vincent and how he looks after her as if she was a daughter he never had. She tells him about her fascination for the stars. She tells him about a friend she lost in Midgar, the SOLDIER boy who might have died already if tabloids are to be believed. She keeps on talking and talking and only waits for his eyes to glaze over, or for him to yawn, or any indication that he's bored. But he still listens. He doesn't tire of her stories.

It was past 12 when she ran out of things to say, however, Rufus still doesn't seem to appear bored or sleepy or tired even for a little.

"Do go on, Miss Lockheart," he says. His voice is still alert, not at all tired or husky.

She swallows; she is suddenly aware of how tired her throat felt. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to say anymore…"

They fall silent. Rufus just keeps his eyes fixated on her. "Please stop staring. I find it uncomfortable…"

He smiles slightly at her, "I'm sorry. I find you beautiful, that's why." And he flips his hair. He goes on to explain, "I have a special liking for beauty… and I have never seen beauty such as yours."

She blinks at what he had just said but she cannot deny the fact that she felt too flattered. She blushes. No one has mentioned that to her that before… well, aside from her own parents. "I… I see." She looks down on the white comforters spread on her bed. She does not want to meet his eyes; they freeze her.

"It's late." Rufus looks up to the clock. It is 5 minutes to 1:00. "Are you sleepy now?"

Tifa realizes that she is indeed very tired, but the same feelings she had lying on her bed still lingers… "I am, but I still can't sleep…"

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

"I don't want to be a bother."

"You aren't." He doesn't stand up.

Tifa smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Rufus shrugs. "It's not like I'm doing anything significant tomorrow. It's just the same money-making job of mine…"

"That's funny. I thought the ShinRas are all about making money," Tifa feels a slight twinge of hatred at her chest; it is the same hatred she has for ShinRa Electric Power Company.

"I'm sure Old Man is. But I'm not." He flips his hair again.

"Oh, really now?… I think it's your turn to tell me all about yourself," she smiles at him wryly.

Rufus laughs a little. "I think not, Miss Lockheart. Maybe tomorrow… Right now I'm here to help you get some sleep."

You enter and close the door behind you

Now show me the world as seen from the stars

If only the lights would dim a little

_I'm wary of eyes upon my scars_

_Tifa is not sure how it happened, but Rufus does his job pretty well. All she remembers is a haunting melody reaching to her ears… and a pair of cold hands embracing her from behind her as she lay down on the bed. The scent of champagne fills her nostrils before her eyes close. She remembers a few fragments of her dream when she awakes the next morning and finds her breakfast at the end table._

_During the day, the prince is not there. He is working again in the tower she has learned to despise._

_That evening, she finds her bed stacked beneath 30 mattresses. The First Lady is there to explain:_

"Well, dear… Rufus tells me that you had a hard time sleeping last night."

Tifa blushes. But she nods all the same.

"It's the bed, isn't it?… well, I have a feeling that it's the bed. These mattresses are here to help you deal with it." The First Lady smiles.

"I… see." Tifa stares at the pile of mattresses. She imagines that her nose would rub against the ceiling if she lies down. "How do I get up there?"

A servant comes in to bring a ladder.

---

She squeezes in beneath the mattress and the ceiling. She has little room to move her arms or her legs, but she can still breathe. She puts her palms against the ceiling to see how high up she really is. "Well… this is certainly interesting."

She looks at her phone. She has just sent an SMS to Vincent. He hasn't been answering her calls. When she inquired a while ago about the search, the President says, "it's all under control."

"Comfy?" She barely hears Rufus' voice from below. She peers at him from near the ceiling. "There isn't much room to move up here…"

"Well, you aren't the type of person who moves around in her sleep."

"How would you know?"

"I watched." He flipped his hair again. Tifa noticed how his fingers worked his fine, blonde bangs when he does that.

"Do you always do that? Flip your hair, I mean."

Rufus shrugs.

"How are you going to tell me stories when I'm way up here and you're way down there?"

He doesn't answer. He starts climbing up the mattresses before Tifa can stop him. "If you're going to climb up here, why not use the ladder?"

"No need," he says casually. He reaches the 30th mattress. "Good evening."

She stares at him curiously. He just sits beside her. "Quite comfortable, don't you think?" he asks while testing the mattress, bouncing up and down a little.

"I… I suppose so," she replies uneasily. "But we're still too high up."

"So? It's not like we're lacking oxygen or anything. In fact, it's quite peaceful, the way we're out of reach from the people below." He smiles at her naughtily. When she cringes, he puts his poker face back on.

"It's weird seeing you smile like that."

"I know. I save it for all the right people."

"So… you promised me stories about yourself this time. I'm all ears. Your life must be very interesting," she says, regaining her composure. She turns to him as she puts a hand up to rest her head on it.

Rufus takes a few moments of silence first before he proceeds. He doesn't bother giving her his name, age, address and whatnot—he begins with the most significant events of his life, his frustrations with his job, his relationship with "Old Man," the way the Turks really function, how he was exposed to the unethical experiments of Dr. Hojo—basically ShinRa behind the scenes. Tifa stops him every now and then to ask questions. She notices how he observes her eyes first before he answers. Maybe he is checking if she is really listening or not.

"So tell me… how did you survive the explosion? I heard you were all alone when the attack happened…" She looks at him curiously.

He looks blankly at the space before him.

"I've seen the pictures and everything… nobody could have survived a blow like that."

"It's not a big deal. They see me all bloody, burnt and injured, but not hopeless. They got me to the hospital as fast as possible. After 3 days, they had my body reconstructed, so I'm good as new. You know how it is… ShinRa, its brilliant scientists and their scientific know-how. They healed me as fast as possible… as for my parents, well, they aren't there when the explosion happened, so the rumor that the explosion could have killed ShinRa isn't true." He flips his hair again.

"Oh. Okay." Despite herself, Tifa is relieved. She regretted wanting Rufus to die during those tumultuous times.

He looks at his wristwatch. 3.32 AM. "It's late… very late… or very early, depending on how you look at it." He turns to her. "I hope you're comfy enough to sleep on your own… Are you?"

Tifa feels her eyes drooping. She lays her back on the soft, expensive mattress, but as soon as she does, a feeling of dread fills her. "I…" she stammers. She does not know how to say it to Rufus, but a presence is there beneath the mattresses… the 30 mattresses piled on top of it did not suppress it.

"Still no?" he says. His icy blue eyes pins her down again.

"I'm afraid not…"

"Well then…" he softly puts a cold hand on her forehead. She freezes upon his touch. He begins stroking her forehead—slowly, softly… She stares at him uneasily. His cold eyes do not change. But there is something about his stare that hypnotizes her…

She feels sleep overcome her again. Cold hands wrap around her abdomen from beneath the mattresses. An eerie melody plays in the deep recesses of her mind.

If the world would fall apart

In a fiction-worthy wind

I wouldn't change a thing

Now that you're here

The smell of champagne fills her nostrils before she loses consciousness.

---

It happens at 7.21 in the next evening.

She desperately tries to contact Vincent again through her cell phone. She cannot go out to the other sectors to search for him. President ShinRa still hasn't told her any good news regarding the search.

"Vincent, please answer…" she mutters under her breath. The clock ticks as tensely as her voice. The other phone just rings. Nobody answers.

The number you have dialed is out of service. Please try again later.

"Fuck," she mutters. She paces around the room as she dials the numbers again.

The number you have dialed is out of service. Please try again later.

"Hell!" she does not resist the urge to throw her phone to the ground. It slides under her bed.

She chides herself for losing her temper. She gets on her hands and knees to reach for the phone. But she freezes midway.

A slight sound emerges. Splash

Her heart starts to beat wildly. She pales. The smell of champagne fills her nostrils; it is very strong now.

"Hello, Tifa," a voice speaks from the doorway.

She turns around. Standing there, watching her, are the President, the First Lady and Rufus.

Tifa stands up shaking. "Rufus… what's going on?"

"Tifa, dear… did you enjoy your stay in our mansion?" the First Lady asks, her voice very sweet, endearing, motherly. There is something unnatural about her smile.

"Rufus… I asked you… what's going on?" her voice sounds frantic now.

"Miss Lockheart, we are very lucky to have found a woman like you for our son over here," the President says proudly. Tifa steps back. She thinks she heard the President's voice as a warped record.

"Rufus…?" she pleads. She is afraid now. Rufus closes his eyes first before he says in a low voice, "Yes, Tifa. Have you found out what you've been sensing since your first night here?"

"What…?" she asks, her voice as soft as a frightened child's. Her eyes widen.

Rufus' eyes are gazing at the bed. She turns. She pales even more.

With all her might, she frantically pulls off all the mattresses of the bed. The ShinRas calmly watch her from the doorway.

It is a hard job, but Tifa finishes in record time. The covers, the pillows, the mattresses are all over the room. Only the wooden frame of the bed remains.

Only it isn't a bed-frame at all. It is a wooden casket. There is a handle. The world is in slow motion when she opens it…

She found herself staring at a man's corpse. He has blonde hair, his skin perfectly reconstructed. His white clothes are soaked. He is floating in champagne.

"R… R…." she stammers.

"I am so glad to have found you, Tifa. I feel like I know you as much as I know myself."

She loses consciousness. She lands in the wooden case. She hears her body splashing in the red liquid. In her dream, she is embracing the prince as somebody locks her in his prison…

-end-

Author's notes: Might be twisted, but not sure if it's scary. Ah well.  
I must edit this soon. I don't know when. Anyway, thank you for reading this. Please leave your suggestions in the review. (smile).  
I'm not sure if bodies are supposed to be preserved in wine. I know there's alcohol in champagne, so heck, I used it here. Hee hee hee!

Due credits go to: GQ for helping out when I'm spacing out. She just can't resist. XD

side note: Rawr. Zhak is angry. Nobody is reading Zhak's work. Oh well. I might as well finish this thing. Sayang naman ang creativity ko.


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